LEGO Unveils Giant X-Wing Fighter in Times Square

Up Close with Giant LEGO X-Wing

Ready for A 'Ride'

Master Builder Erik Varszegi and I standing next to the fighter in an airport hangar in Long Island, N.Y. last week. No Photoshopping here -- the plane's just that big.

Image by Mashable

So Real, You Can Touch It

Side view.

Image by Mashable

It's a Giant Luke!

"Everything checks out."

Image by Mashable

This is How it Travels

The ship was broken down into more than 30 separate parts, then shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in massive freight boxes like this.

Image by Mashable

5. It's Not the Most Organized Traveler

Another of the giant boxes.

Image by Mashable

6. 'Love New York, You Will'

Even Yoda agrees New York is pretty alright.

Image by Mashable

7. Before Take-Off

A shot from above.

Image by Mashable

8. My, What Big Guns You Have

The left wing.

Image by Mashable

9. The Only Thing Missing is a Pilot

The cockpit and R2-D2.

Image by Mashable

10. Does That Thing Have a Hemi?

The right wing.

Image by Mashable

11. Front Shot

Also known as "The Last Thing The Death Star Ever Saw."

Image by Mashable

12. "Lego"

Brought to you by Legos.

Image by Mashable

13. R2-D2

"Bleep bloop blop bleep."

Image by Mashable

14. Ready For Take-Off, Captain?

The cockpit.

Image by Mashable

15. Literally, One of Millions

Close-up of the bricks.

Image by Mashable

16. Don't Point That Thing at Me

Close-up of the right wing gun.

Image by Mashable

17. Some 'Guts' Spilling Out

A piece of the steel infrastructure, which helps hold the ship's millions of bricks together.

Image by Mashable

18. Aww, It's So Little!

The classic retail-sized ship.

Image by Mashable

19. This Just Screams 'I Mean Business'

Close-up of one of the blasters.

Image by Mashable

20. Perfect Symmetry

The back of the ship.

Image by Mashable

21. Intricate Detail

The back, right side.

Image by Mashable

22. Built For Taking Names

Close-up of the back of a wing's gun.

Image by Mashable

23. Front Leg

Holding up thousands of pounds and millions of bricks -- no pressure or anything.

Image by Mashable

24. (Does Not Actually Fire)

First-person shooter angle of the right wing.

Image by Mashable

25. Bad to the Bone

The back of the ship, from further away.

Image by Mashable

It's a dream come true for fans across the entire nerd spectrum: a life-sized X-Wing fighter built entirely of LEGOs.

(Just take a second to let the awesomeness of that sentence sink in. Ready? OK.)

In celebration of the upcoming Cartoon Network series The Yoda Chronicles, the LEGO Group unveiled the iconic Star Wars ship — the largest LEGO structure built to date — in New York City's Times Square on Thursday. The ship will remain on display in New York for three days, then be transported to the LEGOLAND California Resort in Carlsbad, Calif., for the rest of the year.

The huge structure is comprised of 5,335,200 individual LEGO bricks. At 11 feet tall, 43 feet long and 44 feet wide, it weighs almost 46,000 pounds (that's including the steel infrastructure designed to hold the pieces in place.) It's a one-to-one replica of the traditional X-Wing retail model, only 42 times larger.

From conception to completion, the plane took more than one year to make: After months of brainstorming and computerized design, a 32-person team completed construction over the course of four months in Kladno, Czech Republic. Then, the X-Wing was broken up into 32 pieces and transported to Long Island, N.Y., by freight ship.

We got a sneak peek of the plane last week at an "undisclosed location" (Long Island) and met a few of the project's consultants and creators. One of them, Erik Varszegi, who holds the title "LEGO Master Builder," said the designing process was fairly easy.

"Essentially, it's just a blow-up of our existing model," he told Mashable. "The real feat of engineering here is the steel truss frame that's holding it all together."

The plane's travels through New York, and eventually to California, will resemble its original journey. The plane will be broken into pieces and reassembled over the steel frame. Varszegi said the model and its infrastructure are specially engineered to withstand movement, so the rumble of the subway system below Times Square and the potential seismic activity in California won't pose any problems. Visitors in Times Square will get a chance to climb into its cockpit, too — which, again, the ship is made to withstand.

"Aside from the Millenium Falcon, the X-Wing is probably the most iconic ship from the series," Varszegi said. "With all of our retail redesigns of the ship — there have been about four or five since it was first introduced — we always come back and try to outdo ourselves. I think this one definitely accomplishes that."

Thursday is a particularly special day for the unveiling: Exactly 30 years ago, on May 23, 1983, Return of the Jedi opened in theaters.

Be sure to check out the plane if you're in New York this weekend. If not, it will reside in California for the rest of the year. The first of three episodes of The Yoda Chronicles will premiere on Cartoon Network at 8:00 p.m. EST on May 29.

Take a look through the photos above. What do you think? Which structure would you like to see recreated in LEGO form? Tell us in the comments below.

Mashable
is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company. Powered by its own proprietary technology, Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the globe.